So smoky... you can't keep the mountains apart from the sky

As I’m laying comfortably in my first hotel bed after weeks on the road in north Florida, I can’t help but smile when I think about all the incredible adventures I experienced during my week in the Smoky Mountains.

First - my campsite at Yarberry Campground in Lenoir City, TN was the prettiest of all yet. Nestled right on the water, only two trees were hovering beautifully over my van….. creating such a perfect landscape that I could not stop taking photos of the sunrises and sunsets. My doors were open all day long and Ziggy was tempted to go to the shore a couple of times. The location was so centrally located that it allowed me to visit areas in all directions of the mountains.

This Tennessee area was so gorgeous that I did about 22 miles of hiking. First was Cumberland Trail. This was in the northwest region not even part of the mountain area. Yet it had the prettiest waterfall and riverbed reminiscent of the vistas I experienced in Canada.

Then I had an opportunity to head to Knoxville. I took a hike in Ijams Nature Center with Ziggy, worked a bit at K Brew which was super dog friendly and visited the Wardog Memorial in the evening on the way out. Market street was perfect to grab a quick lunch.

The following day was onto exploring the mountains. If you’ve never been to a national park, maybe you’d expect a lot of quiet and beautiful nature with not a lot of disturbance around. Though nature is pretty, the pandemic exacerbated a problem that parks have been dealing with for a while. Overcrowding to no end. This is why I make a point to find hikes outside of the national parks but still encompassing the same landscape. Unfortunately so many of the national parks trails are always overcrowded.

I absolutely marveled in the fact that it snowed on the day of my hiking. This meant the roads were almost empty. I could pull of with my van at any time and not have cars trailing me. I took the famous Laurel Falls trail and did the Gaitlinburg trail with Ziggy. The colors were so vibrant and the vegetation super lush. The trek to the falls was totally worth it. Watching the force of nature while being drenched in water was just so invigorating. I tried to stop in Gaitlinburg, but it was too crowded for the day. I did get a chance to stop at Pigeon Forge and visited the Alcatraz Museum. Due to the weather, I did not spend more time exploring there.

The following day the skies opened up. I was told by my campground lovely neighbor Deborah that Cades Cove is a 10 mile scenic loop that I should definitely visit. I’m so glad I listened to her advice and woke up super early. We arrived at the route at around 9 a.m. You could see the wildlife like deer, turkey and horses. As the sun was peeking through the valleys, it felt like a scene out of a Western Movie. I made a point to stop at some of the landmarks and took the sunshine in.

Then it was time to visit Gaitlinburg again. This time in the sun Ziggy and I took the same trail but from the city’s end. I was able to find parking since I arrived early. I then took the Skylift up to the Sky Bridge, the longest passenger bridge in the US. The views were definitely worth the wait lines. I am not one to do too many touristy things, but there’s plenty to explore in this area.

I returned to my campsite on the last day with a full grateful heart. I was listening to a David Goggins podcast and he talked about him not ever taking vacations, but doing what he calls mental health aid stations. Pauses during the day to recharge and reset. And that’s what this trip felt like. A lot of small moments that absolutely charged my batteries, that allowed me to accomplish the long drive to Florida.

After a week in the mountains, I look forward to sunsets on the beach :).